Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I add my voice to the expressions of sympathy on the death of former Minister, Deputy Seamus Brennan. I recall his courage in dealing with difficulties within his party and the stance he took in terms of standards in public life. That is my abiding memory of the man.

I thank the Minister of State for his presentation of this Bill. However, I disagree with the point made by him that we agreed to deal with this legislation as a matter of urgency. This House is being forced to rush through this legislation as was the Dáil when this Bill was guillotined resulting in only 13 of the 56 amendments tabled being debated. I do not know if the Minister of State is listening to me.

The Minister of State indicated that we had agreed to deal with this Bill as a matter of urgency, but that was forced on this House by the procedures adopted by the Government. It is therefore being debated here under the strongest possible objections from this party on a point of principle. Legislation should not be pushed through without adequate consideration, opportunity for public consultation, consideration of amendments and debate. I wish to make known my objections in that regard.

The Bill itself reflects in large measure the recommendations of the report of the Government alcohol advisory group, which reported on 31 March this year, dealing with the increase in off-licenses granted to supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol stations. The increased number of special exemption orders was noted and the existing enforcement measures were found not to be adequate. The report called for a number of reforms, including the granting of certain off-licences by the District Court rather than the Revenue Commissioners, changes to hours of opening and the physical separation of alcohol from non-alcohol products in mixed trading premises. It also recommended the implementation of test purchasing and certain conditions to be applied with regard to granting licences, including the possibility of a requirement that CCTV systems be put in place. Many of these recommendations are appropriate. It was also recommended that early house licences be abolished, but the Minister has now resiled from the proposal, and I concur with that decision. It also recommended increases in fines and that where local authorities had not adopted by-laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in public places under section 19 of the Local Government Act 2001, they should do so.

The backdrop to the Bill is the large increase in licences and special exemption orders in the past five years, the trebling in the number of off-licences in the past seven years, and the dramatic increase in public order offences — 60% in five years — which is linked to these to a certain extent. There is a high level of alcohol consumption in Ireland, but it is also important to note that the rise in consumption which was evident for many years reached a plateau in 2006. These measures are being adopted in the context of an overall stabilisation in consumption. A thousand public houses have closed down in the past three years. When we consider the extent of the increase in off-licences, we can see there is an issue of competition. There are also issues of public order and enforcement, about which the report of the advisory group made specific recommendations. The Bill endeavours to deal with these.

The fact that pubs and nightclubs provide a controlled and safe environment for socialising and drinking is often overlooked. Restricting the supply of alcohol to mature adults does not necessarily reduce demand. The "Big Brother" approach does not work. Restricting closing times, as we know from past experience, merely induces over-drinking before or at closing times. In some sense the measures take us back to the 1970s, when there was a curtailment in the availability of alcohol to adults, but there was no evidence that it reduced consumption. The main objective of the Bill is to deal with the issue of public order offences associated with late-night pubs and nightclubs. However, it makes matters worse in that regard because we know that common closing times, at which many people exit premises at the same time, result in problems. We are now harmonising closing times for every premises and that is where this legislation is fundamentally flawed. For this reason in particular, it is unfortunate that the Government did not allow proper time for debate on this Bill.

There is the issue of an identification system to prevent under-age purchasing of alcohol at off-licences. Now that we are introducing a system of test purchasing, there is a problem for off-licence owners who will be subjected to this system despite the absence of an adequate identification system. Many under-age purchases from off-licences are facilitated by persons over 18 who purchase alcohol for minors. The Bill fails to address this. It also fails to deal with direct deliveries. People can order alcohol to be delivered to their homes and this can be done by under-age persons. There is no provision to curtail this practice.

The Bill fails to regularise the licensing laws, which was one of its objectives. It adopts a "Big Brother" approach on closing times and threatens to worsen public disorder with its insistence on common closing times. It does not deal adequately with the issue of under-age drinking.

If the Government was of a mind to consider properly amendments that may be put to it, there would be time for proper consideration. We are now transferring to the courts, as distinct from the Revenue Commissioners, the onus of awarding licences. The court application must be attended by a Garda sergeant or superintendent from each Garda station in the district in which a licence is being applied for. There might be 20, 30 or 40 members of the Garda Síochána in a court. Even if they are not objecting to a licence they must be present. In view of the scarcity of Garda resources, it should be provided for in the Bill that a garda can be designated to cover more than his or her own district. This would obviate the need for the tying up of so many gardaí in the awarding of licences. Now that the onus is on the District Court to deal with a whole array of licences, it is important that resources are made available to the courts to do so. I understand that a code for small retailers may be agreed regarding the logistics of partitioning premises. There is also the mixed trading house and specialist off-licence exemption and the lines of distinction between these types of premises are blurred. This issue should be dealt with and further consideration of it is needed in this Bill.

The Bill does not take up a number of points that were in the advisory report, including adequate training standards for staff involved in the sale of alcohol, a minimum age for people selling alcohol in licensed and mixed-trading premises and the issue of young people serving in licensed premises.

By failing to maintain the existing approach of the sequential closing of late-night premises and nightclubs this proposed legislation undermines the very objective sought by the advisory group and the Bill itself. The stated objective of the Minister is to address the issue of public order offences. I noticed in the debate in the Lower House references to practices in other jurisdictions but the only example used is Northern Ireland. Sequential closing is of fundamental importance and the Garda has gone on record to point this out. By failing to deal with this issue the credibility and objective of the legislation are undermined.

In introducing the Bill the Minister stated that it addresses "the public order and licensing aspects of our national problem with drink". The reality is that the Bill does not do this — it is regressive, rather than progressive in this regard and I will table amendments to reflect some of the points I have made.